Automatic cattle-feeding apparatus.



H. KUXMANN & G. SCHNEIDER.

AUTOMATIC CATTLE FEEDING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 15, 1912.

Patented Oct. 6, 1914.

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7H5 NORRIS PETERS CO, PHQTO-LITHO., WASHINGTON :1.

HEINRICH KU MANin-AND GEORG scnnemnn, or .BIELEEELD, GERMANYA AnnemarieCATTLEFEEDING APPARATUS. I

To all whom it may concern: a

MANN and Gnone Sonnnmnmsubjects of the King of Prussia, and residents atBiel efeld, in the Province of Westphalia, Kingdom of Prussia, GermanEmpire, have invented a Q certain new and useful Automatic CattleFeeding Apparatus, of whichfthe following 1 a is a specification. i

This invention relates toyan automatic cattle feeding apparatus.

Apparatuses which supplyifoods to cattle automatically at apredetermined time and in separate portions, have hitherto beenconstructed in such a manner; that the food was placed in the d1v1s1onsof a drum which was set in rotatlon. The separate dlvislons wereconsecutively opened and permitted the food to fall into the manger. Theactuation of such automatic teedingdevices is eiiected by means of aclockwork or water wheel.

Other apparatuses are known in whichby means ofa clocluvorlcseparatefixed receptacles were consecutlvely opened. In other devices againthere isysuspended from the one limb of a balance, a water receptacleand on the other limb a feed receptacle.

By the. excess weight on the one or the other side of the balance inconsequence of the discharge of the water or ofthe food, the balanceswings and bythis motion opens the food container insuch a :manner thata portion of the food is discharged. In the present invention also adropping receptacle 18 made use otfor the automatic release oftheseparate food receptacles." The novelty of the present device jconsistsin placing a float in. the stationary water receptacle, which floatsinks with the} outflow of the water and thereby transfers its motiondirectly to a bar or a traction.

member, which successively releases the locking batches of the division.covers of the food container. This improvement possesses the advantageof the greatest simplicity combined with full security for the actiondesired. j p p In the accompanying drawing," this apparatus isillustrated-in Figure 1 in side elevation, and in Fig. 2 in plan View;Figs;

i Specification of Letters Iatent.

3, and 5 show thereleasingdevice for the hinged bottom. Fig. 6 showsa-constructional modification of the apparatus for I y i i box iand hasimmediately abovethebot tom .a cook it, which by means ofa jclockwork(not shown on the drawing) or even by hand, is. opened at apredetermined time.

float d which is suspended by astrap passing over a pulley Z. The shaftjof this puli In the, water receptaclethere is placed a ley Zis journaledhorizontally-in the casing i I and possesses a second pulleylcoverjwhich is suspended likewise astrap,but in the op- 1 posite.direction of rotation to' that'oi the float strap. At the end of thissecondstrap there is attached the slidingpiecefo, which. travels in agroove on the food receptacle 6 and bears a projectiongm, which on*itsup and down motion turns the leversg and consequently the links nby'an angle of 90. Each link 0?, which is rotatably supported in thewall of the food receptaclep possesses at the end lying in the box thecam .f upon which when it turns,the. flat side upward, is supported themovable bottom e; (Figs .1 and t). If, however, by means ofhthe. lever gthe fiat side of this cam f is adjusted ver tically, then the bottom 0falls down inconsequence of the slot made therein, past the cam. f andfalling down. thus opens the chamber (FigsL l and 3). If the receptacleb is to be filled with food, then the strap over thepulley 7c is takenofi' and the box is i placed horizontal by means of the hinge, c.Thereupon after the opening of the flap r the food Ecaneasilybepouredin. Previ: ously, however, the bottom 6 has been shut and thesliding piecelo brought into its lowestposition and the lever .gplacedjin that when the slidingpiece o is in theloweris to say itfloatsi up onthe teed receptacle with thestrap tight. N f

Thamode of operation of the apparatus is as follows ;At feeding; timetliere is:

opened, either by clockwork or by hand, the cock h of the waterreceptacle. The water then flows slowly into the watering trough and thefloat sinks. Thereby the strap uncoils itself from the pulley Z,revolving the shaft thereof, and consequently also the pulley 70,whereby the sliding piece 0 is raised. Simultaneously with the fallingof the water level in a the rising of the piece 0 takes place and thisturns consecutively by means of the projection m the levers gin such amanner that each half projection f releases each flap e, andconsequently the separate chambers of b are opened and the food fallsinto the manger; In order, however, that the float may sink uniformlyand that the rate of fall of the water level may remain uniform, thevessel a must become narrower underneath, because with the sinking ofthe water level the quantity of water flowing out in a unit of timedecrease in consequence v of the reducing pressure. The sectional areaof the container 64 must therefore be diminished downward in proportionto the diminution of pressure of the outflow. This necessary taperingmay be calculated and by this means there is attained, that the supplyof food will be eflected absolutely uniformly.

Moreover by adjustment of the amount of opening of the cock, the speedof this feed ing can be exactly adjusted.

If the apparatus is to be adapted for more than one feeding, forinstance, for an even- I ing and a morning feeding, then it can beeasily arranged forthe purpose. In such a case it is only necessary toincrease correspondingly'the size of the food divisions or to increasetheir number and also to make the water receptacle a correspondinglywider and higher, and provide it with a second outflow cock lb,preferably placed about the middle of the water column height. For theevening, feeding, the food boxes and the water receptacle are completelyfilled. When the servant has brought the animal into the stall, he onlyneeds to open the upper cook it by hand and has then nothing more to dowith the feeding thereof. When the water has flowed out down ,to' thecock h the-evening feeding ceases. The morning feeding can only beginwhen the lower cook it is opened. This is operated by the alarm clockwwhich at the predetermined time lets fall a rod t which has been raisedby hand by means of the knob s which rod; opens the cook 72 by aidofsuitable intermediate levers and shafts. The opening of the cock mightalso be efi'ected ifdesired by hand. In like manner the apparatus mightbe so 0011". structed by correspondmg increase 1n size and the fixing ofa third cock'that all the three, daily feeds could beprovided for at oneoperation.

nection upon said shaft from which said float is suspended, a foodreceptacle comprising a plurality of superposed food containingcompartments provided with trap bottoms adapted to be successivelyopened in harmony with the movements of said float, means connected tosaid shaft and to said receptacle for successively opening said trapbottoms upon the operation of said means regulating the supply ofwater,'and

means for normally holding the trap bot toms closed. I

2. A. stock feeding and watering appa: ratus comprising in combination,a frame, a receptacle tapering toward below for supplying water to afeeding place, a float upon the water within said receptacle, a cock forregulating said water supply, a shaft horizontally disposed within saidframe above said receptacle, a pulley upon said shaft, a strap securedto said pulley from which said float is suspended, a food receptacle, apulley upon the outer end of said shaft adapted to rotate in the samedirection as saidfirstnamed pulley, a strap secured to said pulley fromwhich said food receptacle is suspended, a plurality of superposed foodcontaming compartments, hinged trap bottoms for said compartments, meansfor holding said trap bottoms normally closed and means for successivelyengaging said holding means in harmony with the operation of said watersupply controlling means for opening said traps one by one,substantially as described.

3. A stock feeding and watering apparatus comprising in combination, aframe, a

receptacle tapering toward below for supplying water to a feeding place,a float upon the water within said receptacle, a cock for regulatingsaid water supply, a shaft horizontally disposed within said frame abovesaid receptacle, a pulley upon said shaft, a strap secured to saidpulley from which said float is suspended, a food receptacle, a pulleyuponthe outer end of said shaft adapted to rotate in the same directionas said first-.

named pulley, a strap secured to said pulley from which sald foodreceptacle is suspended, a plurality of superposed food con-' tainingcompartments, hinged trap bottoms for said compartments, cams supportingsald bottoms opposite their hinged ends for 1,112,918 a F a 3 i inormally holding said traps closed, links In testimony whereof We havesigried our 10 rotatably supported in the Wall of said food names tothis specification inthe presence receptacle carrying said cams,leverssecured of two subscribing Witnesses.

to said catches, and a slide traveling ver- HEINRICH KUXMANN:

tically Within a groove of-said receptacle in harmony with theloweringofjsaid float and GEQRG SCHNEIDER provided with a pin adapted tosuccessively Witnesses: engage said levers for releas ng said catchesARTHUR R. SOLLE, and opening said traps. i MINNA CAssEL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe? Commissioner of ZPatents, i Washington, 1).6.

